Maneaters Are Loose! (1978) is an example of the limitations faced when adapting a novel into a movie. I haven’t read Manhunter by Ted Willis; however, I imagine it has parts in which escaped tigers actually pose a physical threat, not just roll around on the ground with each other in scenes that look like were intercut from a nature documentary.
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I exaggerate. A tiger does stand by an open car window and growl. Never once, though, do we feel like people are in any danger. There’s no suspense. Yet the the beleaguered small town deputy, John Gosford (Tom Skerritt), the local big game hunter, David Birk (Steve Forrest), and the oblivious mayor, Gordon Hale (G.D. Spradlin) discuss it endlessly as if all hell is about to break loose.
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Well, the mayor doesn’t want to discuss it. Surprise! He’s more concerned about the town’s livelihood. There are a lot of people camping in the area and he refuses to alert the media about possible danger. Hmmm… from where was that trope borrowed? I suppose it’s a good one, but you’ve got to accompany it with menacing music, not a constantly bombastic score, and have a pretty girl pursued by a POV shot.
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I recommend shifting your attention to the TV Guide ad occasionally to remind yourself what is supposed to be happening:
Silent. Swift. Savage. They come out of the night. Kill and disappear. The people of the little town of Whitford are praying for the nightmare to end.
While you’re at it, read the brief character descriptions in the ad.Maneaters on the Loose! desperately wants to be something it’s not: a nature gone wild/1970s disaster film.
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It’s not all disappointing, though. These characters are somewhat compelling, especially “the two-faced deacon,” Toby Waites (Harry Morgan.) Events expose the seedy underbelly of the town when pornography is discovered among his belongings by the “promiscuous teenager,” Penny Halpern (Jennifer Shaw), he and his wife have been fostering. She’s on the run after a tiger “attack” because her involvement would reveal the affair she was having with the victim.
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There’s potential here. Skerritt is particularly good. The film opens with its one clever moment when Edith Waites (Priscilla Morrell) speaks the first words, “Here kitty kitty.” There’s pathos in the reason the tigers have been released in the woods. The best example of failure, though, is when tigers roam adjacent to where kids are playing kickball. The ball, of course, rolls into their area. They don’t attack they kids, though. They adorably play with the ball. That just doesn’t feel threatening.
Maneaters are Loose! is available on Netflix. Visit the TV Terror Guide: 70's TV Movies playlist at ClassicHorrors.Club TV on YouTube to watch other great movies from this series.
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